Thailand reels at high toll of deaths, hostages from Israel-Hamas clash

BANGKOK, Thailand — The deadly uprising by Palestinian Hamas militants against Israel a continent away has hit home as Thai nationals from this Buddhist-majority country made up an unexpectedly large percentage of the foreign nationals killed or captured in the fighting so far.

Officials say at least 20 Thai citizens working in Israel were among the dead after Hamas terrorists indiscriminately attacked and killed over the weekend. While 25 nations around the world have announced their citizens have been killed or captured in the fighting, Thailand’s death total is second only to the United States.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin flew to Malaysia — a Muslim country with diplomatic ties to the Palestinians — for help in freeing another 14 Thais believed to be among the 150 hostages Hamas is holding in its Gaza stronghold. Another 13 Thais were wounded in the fighting, Bangkok said Wednesday.

Israel says that the surprise assault across southern Israel has killed over 2,000 Israeli and foreign civilians and military personnel. The State Department said Wednesday its latest tally is that 22 Americans died in the attack and almost an equal number are unaccounted for and could have been taken hostage.

An estimated 30,000 Thai nationals were believed to be working in Israel at the time of the attack.

Families in rural Thai villages told the Agence France-Presse news agency that their relatives went to Israel to pay off family debts or for a better life. In the largely rural, poorer northeast part of the country, Thais went to local shrines and conducted ceremonies hoping for divine help for their trapped loved ones and comfort for the dead.

“We have a lot of debts, and working abroad pays better than in Thailand,” said a worried Kanyarat Suriyasri, after hearing her husband Owat Suriyasri, 40, was taken as a hostage. The family lives in Si Saket province in eastern Thailand.

Thailand reportedly has appealed directly to the Palestinian Authority and to other Muslim nations, including Egypt and Jordan, for help in freeing the Thai captives.

“Hamas would not harm foreigners, because they are not involved, and it does not want to expand the disputes,” Thai spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke told reporters.

More than 5,000 Thai workers in Israel want to return home, but an additional 25,000 who came primarily seeking jobs as laborers hope to remain there, the Thai Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Some of the Thai laborers did not want to leave Israel because they needed to reimburse hundreds of dollars owed to Thai intermediaries who helped them get work on farms and construction crews.

Thai workers’ contracts are often for five years and relatively expensive to arrange if a Thai broker is used to secure the job. If the contract is broken, the laborer could remain in debt to the broker.

Mr. Owat has worked in Israel since 2021, saving up funds to build a house in Thailand for Ms. Kanyarat and their two kids.

“I would hug him and say: ’I’ve missed you, I won’t let you anywhere far away again,’” she told reporters.

Thailand’s dead have yet to be flown home.

“Since most Israeli security and emergency personnel have been dispatched to battle areas, there are not many able to assist in retrieving dead bodies,” the Bangkok Post reported.

The Hamas-Israel war is the first international crisis for Mr. Srettha, a former real estate tycoon leading a mixed civilian-military government that was seated only in August.

After the Hamas weekend assault, Thailand’s foreign ministry issued a neutral statement calling on “all parties involved to refrain from any actions that would further escalate tensions, and joins the international community in condemning any use of violence and indiscriminate attacks.”

It’s not the first time Thai workers were caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israel. In 2021, two Thai workers died during a Hamas rocket assault on Israel.